Emergence as an important port city

There is no mention of Kochi in 10th or 11th century records. Ptolemy, Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta, who visited India before the 14th century, have not mentioned the place in their travelogues. This indicates that till the 14th century, Kochi was just a small village without much interaction with the outside world. Historians believe that Kochi owes its rise as a prominent port city to the great flood in River Periyar in 1341.

Until that time, Mahodayapuram, with its port of Muziris (now, Kodungallur) was the centre of trade. The flood and the frequent attacks of the Zamorins, the rulers of Malabar, proclaimed the death knell of this trading centre and port city. The traders slowly began to move towards the natural harbor created in the Kochi region as a result of the floods.

By 1440, the city of Kochi grew to about five miles in circumference around Mattancherry. Trading activities with the Chinese and Arabs also, gradually, grew over the years.